


In Plain Sight

by midget_boss



Series: One Universe Over [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Accidentally High, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:53:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26520967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midget_boss/pseuds/midget_boss
Summary: Obi-Wan had only been with the 212th for two months when the incident occurred. They may have to come up with a new procedure to prevent this from happening again.
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody & Obi-Wan Kenobi, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Jedi Council
Series: One Universe Over [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1924129
Comments: 11
Kudos: 200





	In Plain Sight

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time attempting to use the zie pronoun. I'm not sure I have it right, so please point out if anything stands out.

Obi-Wan first noticed something amiss when he walked out of his quarters to be greeted by the sight of two shinies in full armor skulking at the end of the hallway. Skulking, instead of lurking, because they drifted into and out of sight. The sight isn’t as rare as it had once been, come to think of it. In fact, Obi-Wan was pretty sure the whole thing had almost become a rite of passage, although he didn’t know the details. Cody was strangely reticent about the whole thing.

He hadn’t been intending to go that way, since the bridge was in the opposite direction, but he could always take the long way. Intuition told him he should find out what was going on. Or simple curiosity, since he didn’t actually feel anything from the Force, but Obi-Wan would absolutely tell anyone who asked that it was intuition.

Unsurprisingly, the shinies fled. Obi-Wan didn’t take it personally, most of the troopers went the other way when they spotted him, leaving a trail of awe and discomfort in their wake. He was on good enough terms now with Ghost company that most of them no longer felt that way, thankfully. When he had a chance he needed to thank Cody for his insight on the matter.

The retreating footsteps stopped abruptly.

“Are you lost?” Commander Cody asked, tone neutral. Obi-Wan could picture him standing there, no expression as he stared the shinies down.

“No, sir,” one of the shinies replied crisply.

“Were you looking for an officer?” Cody’s gaze flicked to him as he rounded the corner, but he only inclined his head slightly in greeting before turning his attention back to the shinies.

“No, sir,” the other shiny answered, sounding slightly puzzled.

“Then why are you in the officer’s wing?” Cody questioned, professional concern mixing with warning. His expression did not change, but Obi-Wan knew by the tone that he was preparing for trouble.

Obi-Wan had always enjoyed the way his commander could use his voice to convey so much. He’d tried to impart the skill to his padawan, but sadly Anakin seemed to have only three settings when around his former Master: angry, enthusiastic, or sarcastic. The only other setting he’d ever seen was hopeless, and that was primarily reserved for the women in his life. At least he had managed to broaden his repertoire with the last. It gave Obi-Wan hope that they might one day add more.

“Orders, sir,” one of the shinies supplied. The other elbowed him.

“Orders,” Cody repeated flatly. “And which officer gave you these orders?”

“It wasn’t an officer, sir,” the shiny replied, voice still crisp. He completely ignored the way his fellow shiny was trying to subtly get him to shut up.

“No?” Cody kept his gaze fixed on the bold one, but Obi-Wan had no doubt that he was watching everything. “Officers are the only ones allowed to give orders.”

“Senior vod’e…,” the other shiny began, but cut himself off at Cody’s look.

_“Attention crew: would General Kenobi and Commander Cody report to the bridge immediately. I repeat, General Kenobi and Commander Cody, to the bridge.”_

“We will speak later,” Cody promised them. “Dismissed.”

Obi-Wan smiled as he fell into step with Cody. “A lucky escape for them, do you think?”

“Unless this involves them,” Cody said wryly. He eyed Obi-Wan as they strode together. “Did you see them do anything?”

“No,” Obi-Wan replied with an amused grin. “They were skulking at the end of the hallway when I came out of my quarters. Intuition told me I should follow them.”

“Intuition?” Cody asked blandly. “Or premonition?”

“It’s not a premonition, just a feeling. Not a bad feeling,” Obi-Wan assured him hastily. He shrugged, not sure how to properly put it into words. “Just, a feeling of interest. A warning to pay attention, if you will.”

“Sir, I’m not sure that’s not just as bad,” Cody said with a sigh.

“Now really, my dear commander,” Obi-Wan protested, not hiding his amusement. “Are you suggesting I only find trouble interesting?”

“Or trouble finds you interesting,” Cody replied. “Or both.”

……………………..

It turned out to be both.

How his men had even managed to stumble onto a shape shifter at all is beyond him at the moment. Obi-Wan has no doubt that there will be a thorough review of procedures, eclipsed only by an exhaustive investigation of how this came to be. He hopes to be part of the latter, since it has the possibility of finding more of these beings.

“Over your dead body,” Cody announced as he hauled Obi-Wan along. “You are not spending any amount of time with any of them.”

“Really, now,” Obi-Wan said breathlessly. “It’s rude to read other people’s minds. And he hasn’t done anything aggressive.”

“I’m not reading your mind,” Cody gritted out through clenched teeth, still hauling him along. “Also, drugging a person can be considered aggressive.”

“If you do it on purpose,” Obi-Wan pointed out. He tried to cough, hoping it would ease the tightness in his chest. “How was he to know that skin to skin … contast, er contect, no, wait, I know this.”

“Contact,” Cody growled as they entered med bay. “Skin to skin contact transferred over some kind of toxin.”

“How are his vitals?” Buzz demanded as he took Obi-Wan’s free arm. “How long ago was he exposed? Do we know what toxin it is?”

“Buzz,” Obi-Wan said happily. He rubbed his chest. “I can’t ask my new friend that, it whoosh, no would be rude.” He beamed, pleased to have gotten the phrase correct.

Buzz looked at Cody, who managed to look pained even though his face didn’t change. Or maybe he felt pained? But neither of the men in front of him felt like anything in the Force. Obi-Wan reached out in the Force, ignoring them as they maneuvered him onto a bed.

“You’re there,” Obi-Wan muttered, blinking at them. “But I can’t feel you.”

“What?” Cody asked, a slight frown creasing his forehead.

“Oh, don’t do that,” Obi-Wan cried, reaching out to smooth it away. He grinned at his friend. “There, that’s better. I don’t like it when you go wrinkly.”

Buzz had been scanning him, but he turned away with a strange sound. Obi-Wan leaned over to try to see his face and almost fell off the bed. “Are you okay?”

“For now,” Cody said ominously as he helped Obi-Wan straighten back up. “Sir, I’ve got to go figure out what to do about your new friend.”

“Zeembolo,” Obi-Wan beamed as he said it, although he wasn’t entirely certain he had pronounced it right. “He just wants go home.”

“Right,” Cody agreed with a nod. “I need to find out where home is and get him back there.”

“Be nice to him,” Obi-Wan admonished gently. “You guys scared him.”

“He scared us,” Boil muttered from the doorway. He grimaced when they looked over. “Seeing a brother’s face melt like that was … ugh.”

“He didn’t mean to,” Obi-Wan said with a sigh. He thought about the loneliness and fear he’d felt when Zeembolo had touched him, until he started feeling dizzy. His chest still felt too tight. “There are a lot of you and only one him. He wanted to belong.”

“We’ll see him back to where he belongs,” Cody assured him, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder. “And then we’re going to make sure this never happens again.”

“Oh, good,” Obi-Wan said before everything went dark.

……………………..

“So you’re saying that a shape shifter who secretes a substance that is a hallucinogen pretended to be a trooper and boarded your ship,” Mace said slowly. His image does not flicker, which means Obi-Wan is treated to his most unimpressed look without reprieve. It still makes a part of him want to squirm as he did when he was considerably younger. “When you discovered it, you touched it and found out that you are actually allergic to this toxin.”

“I didn’t randomly touch zim, it was accidental. And I don’t think we need to call it a toxin,” Obi-Wan protested from his bed. Fortunately, Buzz had let him wear his tunic and drape his robe over his shoulders for this call. He pulled the robe tighter about him. “If you aren’t allergic, it isn’t harmful.”

“Does your medic concur with that?” Ki Adi Mundi asked dryly.

“Nearly half a dozen men have been … exposed,” Obi-Wan replied carefully. He resolutely did not look at the corner, where Cody was doing an admirable impression of a mannequin. “None of them are showing any adverse effects.”

From out in the main med bay area there is a roar of laughter. Several voices were raised in excitement. Obi-Wan suppressed a smile and this time could not help flicking his gaze to Cody. His commander was looking out of the door, expression unreadable.

“I thought you said zie never showed any aggression,” Kit said thoughtfully.

“Zie didn’t,” Obi-Wan replied with a shrug. “My reaction didn’t happen immediately. The initial effects took about five minutes to make themselves known. We were in the rec room, so the men affected didn’t have their gloves on.” The project they had been working on had required finer motor skills than the men could manage in gloves. It was possible, even probable, that the men had been exposed before Obi-Wan, since he had arrived later, but he wasn’t going to point that out.

There’s another burst of laughter. Obi-Wan could close the door, he is in one of the private bays, but he hadn’t wanted to be cut off from the men. The way they kept glancing over, grinning at the open door, tells him they don’t want him cut off, either. Cody moved into the doorway and signed something to the men no doubt, but Obi-Wan couldn’t see it.

“And where is this individual now?” Plo asked, amusement lacing his tone. For the situation or the obvious good cheer of the men, Obi-Wan couldn’t guess.

“Zie is in one the guest bunks,” Obi-Wan replied. “We felt it best to minimize potential contact with others.”

That had hurt them both, when Obi-Wan had to tell Zeembolo that. Zie had understood, but that didn’t make it any better. Obi-Wan had asked if he could visit when Buzz released him, but he had been turned down. It was probably for the best, since Cody had actually looked mutinous standing behind Zeembolo. Buzz had managed to look even less impressed than Mace, a feat Obi-Wan never intended to tell either man.

“I believe you said it would only take a little over a full rotation to get to zir’s planet,” Depa said. She smiled at him sympathetically. “Zie will be home soon.”

“Yes,” Obi-Wan replied, taking comfort in the knowledge.

“What I would like to know is how zie came to be on board in the first place,” Adi Gallia said. She looked thoughtful. “I want to say that I have heard or read about a similar sounding species.”

“Master Nu may be able to shed some light on this,” Plo said thoughtfully.

“Information regarding the species is a matter for another time,” Mace said firmly. “The important part is finding out how this happened to prevent someone more unscrupulous from taking advantage.”

“Zie was on Niallth, although zie hasn’t been clear as to why.” Obi-Wan shrugged, hoping his reluctance to push the matter was clear. “Since zie can’t take the shape of something inanimate, zie took the armor of a dead trooper.”

“Was the trooper dead before zie decided to take it?” Mundi asked.

“As far as I know,” Obi-Wan replied. He understood why Mundi would ask, which is why he himself had asked. “I sensed no lie when zie answered.” The others nodded, relaxing slightly.

“Interesting, this situation is,” Yoda mused. He gave Obi-Wan a sly smile. “Take after your Master, you do.”

“I didn’t find zim,” Obi-Wan protested weakly, fighting the heat that was starting in his ears. He ignored Cody’s questioning look. “And I’m taking zim back immediately.”

“Heard that one before, we have,” Yoda said with a hum. His eyes twinkled. “Many times.”

“Not from me,” Obi-Wan muttered.

“No, that is true,” Plo agreed serenely. His tusks quivered slightly. “Usually, you were trying to convince us that we should expand the library.”

“ _No one uses the meditation room closest to the library, anyway_ ,” Kit intones, expression perfectly blank. “ _We could remove the wall and make a whole new section on Colonies_.”

“ _Or the Inner Rim_ ,” Mundi chimed in.

“ _And what about the expansion area_ ,” Mace added, wide eyed.

“Any of those would have been very useful,” Obi-Wan replied with a sniff. In spite of the distance he can feel their amusement. “We could use good information now.”

“That is true,” Shaak Ti said with a gentle smile. “Hopefully one day soon you can go explore and bring us back all that we could wish to know.” It’s a nice thought and they all smile.

The troopers suddenly burst into song and Obi-Wan frantically hits mute. He knows this one from just the first words, and the way several council members grin, they recognize it also. “I will inform the council when we resume toward our previous destination. May the Force be with you.”

Obi-Wan doesn’t need to hear it to know the sentiment is shared. Or that his fellow council members are going to be laughing as soon as the connection ends. He scowled out the door, but dropped it when they only got louder.

“I’d assign extra duties, but under the circumstances, that seems excessive,” Cody commented idly. He tilted his head, looking Obi-Wan in the eye. “That information would be useful sometimes.”

“If you don’t mind, Commander, I think I’d like to rest,” Obi-Wan said primly, settling himself firmly in his robe. “Please inform me when we have arrived.”

“Of course, sir,” Cody replied crisply. “I’ll have Record prepare a report on Kayri for when you’re done resting.”

“There’s no need for either of you to go to the effort,” Obi-Wan said with a benign smile. He picked up the pad next to him and waved it cheerfully at the other man. “I can access whatever I need to know.”

“You could,” Cody agreed slowly, nodding his head. He darted over and took the pad. “But since you’re resting, you’ll have to wait for a report.”

“Now, really, Commander,” Obi-Wan protested, leaning forward as his commander walked out, the door sliding shut behind him. He stared at the door, warmth curling through him, and shook his head. Then he settled himself into his favorite meditation pose, letting the warmth carry him along.

**Author's Note:**

> I skipped over Zeembolo's introduction because this is all I could come up with:
> 
> “You’d think,” Cody said to no one, “that it would get easier the more experience you get. The reality is that it just gets more complicated.”
> 
> “If you say so, sir,” Wooley replied. Cody swung around to find the trooper leaning against a wall across from the Rec room.
> 
> “Wooley, why are you out here?” Cody asked, hoping that his surprise was not evident. He’d been so lost in thought he hadn’t even checked to see if anyone was around. A burst of loud laughter drew their attention.
> 
> “Something weird is going on,” Wooley answered grimly. “Building your own sanity kit should not lead to that much laughter.”
> 
> “Santy kit?” Cody asked warily.
> 
> “You know, like a survival kit, but with comfort things,” Wooley replied with a shrug. “Something to cheer you up, or keep your mind occupied, or your hands busy when you just need to do something, things like that.”
> 
> “Who came up with that?” Cody demanded.
> 
> “Oh, that’s an eggcellent, no excellent idea. We should do that.” General Kenobi’s voice drifted out clearly when the door opened, complete with giggle. A trooper stood frozen in the way, blocking Cody’s view.
> 
> “Sir,” the shiny said, gulping. His eyes were wide.
> 
> “Is he drunk?” Cody demanded as he stalked toward the door.
> 
> “There’s no alcohol in there,” Wooley said even more grimly as he came up behind him. “You think I’d be out here if there was?”


End file.
